Blue Jean Baby Queen...or Prince

Call me arrogant.  Call me conceited.  Call me crazy.

I'm sorry, my little boy is the cutest dang thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

(of course I'm not bias)

Today he wore jeans and his wallabee shoes with a white knit polo and his Ole Miss hat to school.

Even though his jeans are a 6 month size I still had to roll them a bit because he's so compact.  Short and squatty.  It was the first time he's been able to wear the jeans we have and I was so excited!  I think babies in jeans are too stinkin' cute.  They look like tiny little adults.  So since I've been thinking about Hill's jeans I now have the David Essex song "Rock On" in my head.

(my little blue jean baby queen)

I thought I'd get it stuck in your head too...you can thank me later  :)

Hey kid, rock and roll

Rock on, ooh, my soul

Hey kid, boogey too, did ya

Hey shout, summertime blues

Jump up and down in my blue suede shoes

Hey kid, rock and roll, rock on

And where do we go from here

Which is the way that's clear

Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen

Prettiest girl I ever seen

See her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean

(James Dean)

[Instrumental Interlude]

And where do we go from here

Which is the way that's clear

Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen

Prettiest girl I ever seen

See her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Dean

Rock on

Rock on

Rock on

Hey, hey

Rock and roll

Rock on

Universal Truths

I received this email from a friend the other day.  I'm not sure the person that wrote this didn't tap into my brain because it's all the things I do and think about...often. 

Universal Truths


1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment sometimes, when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than K

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent another idiot from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my behind everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!
 

Have a great day!

 

Giddy Up

Ride em' Cowboy!

Peek a Boo

Whoa there horsey!

Look!  No hands!

 

Final Decision

After massive hours of R&D (research and discussion) with numerous mothers about my carseat debacle.  I made an executive decision and my child will be safer than safe for the next few years with the Britax Marathon Labyrinth. I may have even shed a tear of frustration along the way.  Then when I told Chip the cost he stroked out and may have shed a tear, but I assured him that this was not some boat he was fixing up this is our childs safety.  Way to throw a guilt trip to get what I want, right?

This is what his new ride will look like. 

It's fancy. 

9 years and counting

9 years ago this week, June 14, 2001. I was living in Oxford, MS in a small apartment complex near the Square. The only reason I remember this particular date is because I had just gotten my hair cut.

I met my new neighbors the prior week. They were boyfriend and girlfriend and lived next door to each other in the apartments above me. One day I will tell you about how when they first moved in (during final exam week) and were installing new carpet and furniture, etc at 11:00 pm, it was so late and so loud I went and turned the power to the whole apartment complex off just so they couldn’t run their power tools and I could sleep.

Anyway, 9 years ago I took Katie Lou on a walk and came back to find a note on my door from the new upstairs neighbor girl. It said, “Hey we are going out tonight and thought you’d like to come. Meet us upstairs around 8:30.” So, 8:30 rolled around and I went upstairs to hang out with my new neighbor and her boyfriend. They were nice folks, I felt bad for turning their electricity off and apologized and they understood the maintenance men shouldn’t be doing that during finals late at night. The guy, his name was Jackson, he was from a small town called Kosciusko. The girl, her name was Julie, she was from a small town called Flora. They were cute as pie.

So, like I was saying, I met them upstairs and we hung out for a minute and they were like we have another friend coming. He will be here in a minute. I didn’t think anything of it. We were outside on the patio enjoying each other’s company waiting for Jackson’s friend…..then this guy pulls up on a motorcycle. It was loud and he revved up the engine or motor or whatever it was and I was like, oh my goodness, please don’t tell me this ‘queer-bait-goob’ is the guy coming with us. Oh, but it was. He came upstairs and Julie introduced me to him. His name was Chip.

Still I didn’t think anything about this nerd guy on a motorcycle. I mean it is not like he was a biker dude. He was in polo chino khakis and a polo knit shirt. He was anything but a biker and I think that is what I thought was so dorky. So we jump in the car and head to the Square. I remember this Chip fella opening doors and both he and Jackson paying for everything for all of us, he had great interesting conversation and was an all around a nice guy.

I guess I forgot about the first impression of the goob on the motorcycle because when he asked for my number at the end of the night I gave it to him. Well it totally didn't go down like that.  He told me to call him and I said no, I don't call guys.  So then he took my number and called me the next day.  I don’t think I ever asked Julie and Jackson if it was a set up or not. Anyway, 9 years ago I met my Chippy. I’m forever indebted to my friends Jackson and Julie Jordan who married a few years later and now have two beautiful babies.

If it weren’t for that night I may not have ever had the chance to meet my husband. I may have missed out on the last 9 years of hilarity in my life. I may have missed out on this little bugga boo. I can’t imagine my life without either of them.

Rare Breed

I was looking in the newspaper classifieds under the free pets. Don’t worry I’m not adding anyone else to my zoo. I like to read about the animals and pray that some abusive toothless person that wears cut off shorts and wife beaters doesn’t take these free animals and neglect them thinking little Jr. needs a playmate. So as I’m finding all these free kittens and puppies I come across 3 Female CHIPOMPOOS. I’m thinking half monkey half poodle? It may be one of those Chinpokomon kid toys? I’m talking out the enunciation out loud to myself. I couldn’t get it.

Finally I had to google it….boy was I way off. Totally off. I was reading it Chip-om-poos. Low and behold it is a Chi – pom – poo. Say it with me now… chipompoo.

The best I can decipher from this strange four legged creature is this family tree. This took me a while to put together so I hope you appreciate my being a visual learner.

I've come to the conclusion that the newspaper misspelled this word - if it truly is a word.  I would call it a chipomapoo but they called it a chipompoo.  Call it what you will I may call the sellers just so I can see what this creature looks like.
Google did not have a picture of such breed because I’m sure they only exist in rare exotic places in the world…. like rural Mississippi.

If you add a cute little boy named Hill in the mix you have a Chillpomapoo

Hill

                Chihuaua               

Pomapoo

My little helper

Since Hill's surgery we were worried about him falling a little behind the pack in developing his rolling over skills.  He hasn't been able to have much tummy time for fear of rubbing his face on the blankets and hurting his still tender mouth. 
For the past week and a half we've thought that Hill was giong to start rolling over from his back to his stomach.  He throws his feet up, gets his leverage, falls to the left but can't get much further than that. 
So his sweet older sister Katie Lou, who is a professional roller over, decided she'd try her hand at teaching him the ropes.  She's working with him, but with little success.

Not only does Katie Lou help Hill learn new things... she is also a big help to me around the house.  Here she is working so diligently in folding the laundry.

Thank you sweet girl.  You are such a good helper and a wonderful big sister.

The Busy Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend Hill had tons of stuff to do. Saturday was his first time to go to the farmers market, a birthday party, in the ski boat and float on the lake.  All in one day!  It's hard work being so fun!

Here are pictures of the adventure.  

Sweet Swayze and her precious mama, Marsha,  put on the best birthday party ever.  

Given it was Hill's first birthday party to attend and he doesn't have anything to compare it to, but we seriously doubt Swayze's 5th birthday can be topped. There was candy everywhere and cupcakes and cake and hot dogs and Cheetos and bouncy things and gift bags and presents. Here is Cooper showing us how it's done.

It probably wasn't appropriate for Chip and I to partake in all the fun and eat all the food and candy, but... we did, and it was tasty.  I will say we didn't jump in the bouncy thing, but it wasn't because we didn't want to.  We'd have crushed the tiny kids and Chip is very competitive and would have been a bully or something.  Poor Hill, his parents will never grow up.

The Party Boys

We got to hang out with our best buddy Pearce!  His family throws great parties! We are waiting for his mama to send us the pictures of Hill and Pearce on the bouncy thing and a picture of Hill and the Birthday Girl. 

After the birthday party we headed out to the Country Club to go riding in the ski boat and float around the lake.

Here is our sweet boy living la vida loca.

He's really not sunbathing, he's under a patio with SPF 50, a hat a shirt and sunglasses. Lord I was so scared of him getting burned!

This is Hill sleeping in his float at the lake.  I kept making sure the life jacket wasn't suffocating him, it looked so uncomfortable.  He managed to sleep the entire time just chilling out.  Because the life jacket was so big and bulky he was like a big doll.  Everyone joked that he looked like Bernie from the movie Weekend at Bernie's because he couldn't move and would just sit there.  What a trooper.  Here is Hill and his daddy in the water.

The lake was such a fun time, the Pettit's were there to play with us too!

Whitney, Tanner & Hart

Early that Saturday morning Kosciusko had it's debut to the Attala County Farmers Market.  I just may be the most excited citizen in Attala County.  I didn't get pictures of the event itself, but I did take pictures of the goods I bought and what I did with them.

So, Rachel....what did you do with the goods from the farmers market?

I made fresh home grown baby food chocked full of vitamins and nutrients!

Squash, cucumbers and zucchinis

I think we may have spent like $3 or $4 on ALL of these veggies combined.

So, I thought I'd make Hilly-poo some squash since he's been eating solids for a couple weeks now.  The lady at the market (and my recipe book) said to steam the veggies because when you boil them all the nutrients are taken out of them.  So I found a use for the steamer I bought ump-teen years ago at a Pampered Chef or Tupperware party in a previous life. 

I sliced the squash, skin on - which is TBD if that is right or not - put it in the steamer and microwaved it for like 6 minutes.

Stuck them in the food processor that I bought last year at Dirt Cheap for $15 preparing for this moment.

Then this is the final product!  Pureed Squash...

My next step is to spoon the food into ice cube trays and put them in a ziploc in the freezer.  This way I can pop out a cube when it comes time to eat.  The food lasts up to 6 weeks, but Hill has already put a big dent in his yum-o squash! 

Chip made me stir fry with zucchini and squash and I'd have taken a picture but I ate it all.  It was so fresh and fabulous. 

We cannot wait until this coming Saturday when we can go and get MORE fresh veggies from our local farmers market!  I suggest you do the same...hope to see you there!

In Between

Carrying Hill in his car carrier weighs like 4,000 lbs. Even though he’s only 15 lbs the carrier is like another 3,985 lbs and is no longer conducive to every day toting around. So Hill is going to have to start being a “hip baby” as my friend Marsha refers to her sweet Pearce as. The only problem is that Hill can’t sit up on his own yet so this poses a problem when we go places we’d have nowhere to ‘set’ him. As much as we’d love to hold him, it doesn’t always work out that way. There is the Baby Bjorn, but when you are eating you might just drop a big meatball on his head if he’s in that thing. There is the umbrella stroller but if you are grocery shopping you can’t push that and the cart. I guess I’m down to either the Bjorn or the umbrella stroller depending on the situation. Any other suggestions are welcome during this transition stage.

As if how to carry him around was my biggest problem…. Let’s talk about his carrier. He is 15lbs. His Graco carrier is up to 30 lbs. The BEAUTIFUL Britax car seat I got such a fabulous deal on is 25-80 lbs. One would think Ah, ha! Easy transition from one to the other. WRONG! The Britax is a forward facing car seat and according to the children’s journal of yadda yadda yadda children are not to face forward until two years of age and 25 lbs. That is two years away for us. He’s gonna be like Chris Farley in the movie ‘Tommy Boy’ - - “Big guy in a little coat” hanging out in that Graco carrier.

So here is my question to all you mama’s out there. Do I sell the Britax Frontier on eBay and get a different one that’s a ‘convertible” as they call it that is both rear and forward facing for when he can transition out of the Graco carrier? Do I keep the Britax Frontier and find an interim seat for a few months from now until age two? Do I not listen to the medical rules of the children’s journal saying how my baby’s neck and body muscles won’t develop fully until age two to withstand facing forward during a crash in his car seat?

Why do I have to make this so complicated?

Then on top of that my poor baby bought me a car with a DVD player that drops down and he can’t even watch it until he’s 2 and facing forward. Did I tell ya’ll that? For mother’s day Hill bought me a new car. It’s a Toyota Sequoia and I love it. She’s a Hoss and uses a lot of gas. Yet, she is safe and safety first….starting with this dang car seat debacle! Please advise or throw convertible car seats my way. Thanks!

Kisses and Carrots

So, I picked up Hill yesterday from daycare and he was in one piece, still smiling and happy to see me and give me the kisses I’d missed out on. I love his kisses they are the open mouth kind where if he lands on your nose he will chomp down and suck on your nose. Most of the time he lands on my cheek and gets it slobbery. I love it. He’s my big kissy face.

I do have to say that Katie Lou gives good kisses too. She licks all over the face. The sweetest is when you are sad and she kisses your eyes. The funniest is when you yawn and she tries to kiss in your mouth. That Silly Goose. Foster is not allowed to give kisses at our house due to his breath smelling like a seafood dumpster. Foxy Mama will give hand kisses unless you are Hill then she will kiss the top of the head or bottoms of the feet.

Anyway, enough kissy talk. Last night I had to take Hill with me to my Junior Auxiliary meeting since Chip was out of town. Aunt Meryl was there and played with him until Ta-Ta (Tasha Grantham) came and she called dibs on the holding of Hill. So, the meeting was in session and there was a brief lull in the conversation where Mr. Gassy McGas Butt decided to let one rip. The timing was impeccable and the culprit couldn’t have been better planned. Immediately I said, “Geez Tasha!” It was hilarious! So glad Ta-Ta is a good sport.

Tomorrow Tina & Craig Graham (and Peyton too) will welcome sweet Colton into the world. I can’t wait to meet him and for Hill to have another buddy!

Also a special shout out to my long time friends Tina & Hector Manriquez who welcomed sweet baby Melanie into the world last week! I can’t imagine how sweet this little girl is since her mom and dad are probably the sweetest, nicest, most in love couple I have ever met in my life. Precious!

My mom just informed me that she may live another 40 years!  Maybe it was a warning?  Anyway, tomorrow June 3rd will be my Great Aunt Martha's 103rd birthday.  Yes, One Hundred and Three Years old!  Can you imagine all the things she's seen in her life time?  Absolutely amazing, and she is in good health just hasn't been able to hear well as long as I've know her...which is 30 years!  Happy Birthday Dear Aunt Martha!  We love you!

I leave you with Hill eating carrots.  I was so worried his face would be stained orange forever and people would think he tried to eat the self tanning lotion.  Once we had a bath, he was back to his normal color.  As for the bib, we won't know until the Spray and Wash kicks in... Cindy, I need darker colored bibs babe.  I hope his dump truck survives the carrots.  If not, it's ok we will still use it because that means it's doing it's job!

First Day of School

Today is Hill's first day of school.  Chip and I did the typical parent thing and took his picture in his first day of school outfit, then a picture with daddy and the little school boy and a picture with mama and the little school boy.  Ok so it's not really 'school' but we told Hill it was.  Technically it's where he will go and meet new people and learn new things.  So, pretty much school.  What an exciting morning!

Chip and I took him together, it is a big milestone starting daycare and all.  We went and signed the sign in sheet, Mrs. Debra commented on his big boy shoes and asked if we took pictures for his first day.  Silly Mrs. Debra, she must know us!  Of course we did!  Mrs. King then showed us the way to our room with a little help from Brooks Kuhn.

In his room we met his teacher, Trista.  Hill did his flirty smile thing with her where he smiles really big, drops his chin and cuts his eyes.  He's a flirt.  I started going through his bag and explaining what everything was.  Chip said, Rachel I'm sure they know what to do with all those things.  I know, I know, I was just rambling.  Trying to pacify myself so I didn't lose it because I felt it coming on. I felt the burning nose and the tears welling up.  I was not expecting to cry.  Crying was not anything I had prepared my self for so I didn't have my guard up.  I put his stuff in his cubby hole and went to kiss on my pumpkin....I lost it.  Why, I have no idea.  It's not like I'm worried they are not going to play with him or change him or feed him.  His safety and well being are non issues, I know he's ok.  I know he will love playing with others.  I honestly have zero clue why I was crying.  It NEVER crossed my mind that I would cry, ever!  I'm a weenie!

Poor Chip, he kept saying that everything was going to be fine, they would take care of our sweet boy.  I didn't think they wouldn't, I was still clueless on why I couldn't hold back this emotional buffoon I'd become!  I think my being upset made Chip a little upset too.  Yet, we managed to leave our smiley faced boy with his big boy shoes on playing happily with Ms. Trista. 

I got to the car and for the first time in my life I wanted to become a stay at home mother.  I wished for independent wealth and wondered if Obama really would give us free medical insurance.  But I went on to work anyway, I wasn't being rational.  I may call later to check in or maybe swing by there since it's right across the street from my office.
Wonder what he's doing now?  Probably just being his cutie patootie sweet self and giving away all my kisses! 

If you daycare people are reading my blog, save some kisses for me...oh yeah, and I'm doing much better now, thanks!  Sigh. Breathe in, exhale.